Hands Free Talking, While Better, May Still Be Unsafe

It had to happen – hands free cell phones as a way to communicate while driving. In some ways this is a good development, in others, well, there is still some doubt about how safe talking on a cell phone (hands free or not) is while driving.

Not all cell phone use is simply talking. Many cell phones act like a computer in the car with graphics, games and videos capable of distracting even the otherwise safest of drivers. The hands free Blue Tooth cell phone applications are making things much easier to talk to others when in transit from one place to another. “While this certainly does have it advantages, it is still distracting for drivers,” pointed out Lance Sharp of The Sharp Law Firm in Austin, Texas.

Sharp and his partner, Laura Sharp, have over 40 years combined legal experience in various areas of the law, and they definitely understand the ramifications of car crashes as a result of talking on cell phones. “It was once just talking on the cell phone while driving that was a problem, now it’s a whole array of other distractions like downloading maps, checking email, surfing the Internet, and playing games,” said Sharp. Add to this mixture the dashboard mini TV, movie screen or GPS location device and the recipe for a disaster in the making just got more complex.

Hands free is certainly a step up from trying to hold the cell phone in hand and drive at the same time. However this doesn’t seem to stop those who don’t want to spend the money for a hands free model; and who are trying to juggle things. Police on patrol have reported witnessing motorists trying to drive with their knees while talking on a cell phone and checking out their appearance in the vanity mirror.

While the hands free is touted as a wonderful solution to cell phone users causing accidents, it is still a distraction. Remember a driver’s main task is to drive safely. Those who multi-task while driving and try to use things like a fax and hunt up a map at the same time as talking are not driving optionally, even if both hands are free.

The accident statistics are high enough as it is without the added variation of hands free cell phone use causing collisions. It’s not that far fetched to think accidents will still happen as a great many people tend to slow down abruptly with no warning while they are driving and on the phone (hands free or not).

Anyone who has been the victim of a car collision where the other driver was at fault because they were on a cell phone, watching an electronic device, or using a map device needs to immediately call highly competent car crash attorneys, such as Lance and Laura Sharp at The Sharp Firm in Austin, Texas. “Once we are consulted on cases like this, we immediately go into action collecting the information we will need to either negotiate a settlement, or take the case to court,” explained Sharp.